{"id":635560,"date":"2018-10-15T16:51:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T22:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=635560"},"modified":"2018-10-16T12:08:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T18:08:53","slug":"as-u-s-suicide-rates-rise-hispanics-show-relative-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/10\/as-u-s-suicide-rates-rise-hispanics-show-relative-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"As U.S. suicide rates rise, Hispanics show relative immunity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Latinos\"

Maria Fabrizio \/ for Kaiser Health News<\/p>

Support from family and community appear to shield Latinos from rising suicide rates, researchers say.<\/p><\/div>\n

The young man held the medication in his hand \u2014 and considered using it to end his life.<\/p>\n

But then he \u201cput it down and said, \u2018No. I need help,\u2019\u201d before heading to a Laredo, Texas, emergency room, said Kimberly Gallegos, who at the time earlier this year was a mobile crisis worker for a local mental health center.<\/p>\n

Gallegos was helping evaluate whether the patient, a Latino in his early 30s, should be immediately hospitalized or could go home safely until seeing an outpatient doctor.<\/p>\n

He returned to the home he shares with his mother and a sibling. The family agreed to lock up the medication \u2014 which belonged to a family member \u2014 and watch out for any problematic behaviors and other warning signs of suicide, Gallegos recalled.<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s experience illustrates a \u201csuicide paradox,\u201d experts say. Even though Latinos face economic disadvantages and other stress in their lives, their suicide rate is about one-third that of non-Hispanic whites, both in Texas and nationally.<\/p>\n

Experts attribute the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos to the culture\u2019s strong family and community support systems, which appear to provide some degree of protection.<\/p>\n